Eighth Fleet (Manticore)
The Eighth Fleet is a Manticoran Alliance naval force established to conduct offensive operations against Haven during both Haven-Manticore Wars. While the bulk of its forces comes from the Royal Manticoran Navy, its order of battle has also included vessels from the Grayson Space Navy and the Erewhon Navy. Eighth Fleet was first organized following the takeover of San Martin by the Manticoran Alliance to continue the drive towards the planet Haven itself, but the actual process of assembling its forces at Trevor's Star was extended due to the need to replenish losses at the frontlines and conclude much-needed repairs and refits, leading to the fleet's order of battle being barely complete by the time the Havenites launched Operation Icarus. (Echoes of Honor) Under the command of Admiral White Haven, Eighth Fleet's fought its first action during the Second Battle of Basilisk. To arrive at the battle site without destabilizing the Junction and thus prevent following reinforcements, Admiral White Haven ordered the fleet to transit through the Junction from Trevor's Star to Basilisk via Manticore one ship at a time, a feat that required an unprecedented amount of coordination with Manticoran Astro Control Service transit controllers. While the transit itself was a massive success (despite a few accidents), Eighth Fleet arrived too late to prevent the devastation of Basilisk's space infrastructure by Citizen Admiral Javier Giscard's fleet. Nevertheless, Eighth Fleet managed to destroy the Havenite force tasked with picketing the Basilisk Terminus of the Junction, an action which saw the first operational use of pod-laying superdreadnoughts. (Echoes of Honor) As Operation Icarus saw the initiative passed to the Havenites, Eighth Fleet delayed its offensive and concentrated on incorporating as many of the new pod-laying superdreadnoughts and LAC carriers as possible. In late 1914 PD, Admiral Thomas Caparelli ordered White Haven to lead Eighth Fleet in Operation Buttercup: the Alliance's long-awaited drive into the People's Republic. (Ashes of Victory) Thanks to its technological edge, Eighth Fleet advanced practically without serious opposition from the People's Navy, destroying substantial Havenite naval squadrons and capturing many systems for the Alliance, including MacGregor, Barnett and Tequila. However, its victorious advance would end at the eve of its assault on the Lovat System, as the People's Republic's new dictator Oscar Saint-Just offered a truce which was quickly accepted by the new High Ridge administration. (Ashes of Victory) With the truce in place, Eighth Fleet was demobilized and its component ships were returned to their mother navies or, in the case of the Manticoran ships, divided among Home Fleet and Third Fleet. However, when war between Manticore and Haven resumed in 1920 PD, Eighth Fleet was re-established and placed under the command of Admiral Honor Harrington. The desperate strategic situation of the Star Kingdom and the loss of almost all the ships under construction when Grendelsbane was destroyed meant that the new Eighth Fleet would not amount to more than a heavy task force for the initial period of the war, even though the Royal Navy gave Eighth Fleet first call for all new ships coming into service. (At All Costs) Despite its numerical inferiority, Admiral Harrington and her staff devised a series of offensive assaults against lightly-defended systems in the Republic of Haven, aimed at forcing the Havenite Navy to redeploy forces for rear area defense, thus alleviating the pressure on the Star Kingdom and its allies. There were three waves of attacks, codenamed Operation Cutworm I, Operation Cutworm II and Operation Cutworm III, but where the first two Cutworms were completely successful, Cutworm III ended with a serious defeat for Eighth Fleet at the Solon System, where the fleet was ambushed by Admiral Javier Giscard's fleet. (At All Costs) Despite its losses during the Battle of Solon, Eighth Fleet managed to regain its forces and renew its attacks on Haven, devastating Admiral Giscard's fleet during Operation Sanskrit: the attack on the Lovat System. The Battle of Lovat saw the first operational use of the Apollo system, a new Allied missile system which allowed realtime fire control for missile salvos. However, before Eighth Fleet could launch Sanskrit II as its staff had planned it, the Havenites launched their massive assault against the Manticore System itself, and Eighth Fleet was recalled to the home system following Admiral Kuzak's Third Fleet. As Third Fleet fell in the trap the Havenite planners had devised for Eighth Fleet, Admiral Harrington's forces managed to evade the Havenites and subsequently devastate their fleet, leading to the final surrender of their remaining vessels and ending the Battle of Manticore. (At All Costs) In the aftermath of the battle, Eighth Fleet was redesignated as Home Fleet and assigned to defend the Manticore System, still under Fleet Admiral Harrington's command.